Number 445


Happy New Year with Cosmo Cat!


I didn't realize when I posted this Cosmo Cat story that it would get such a good response. Thanks to Dave Miller, who provided the original scans from Cosmo Cat #8, August 1947. He's also gone the extra mile and provided scans for another three stories from that same issue. Dave, you are a very cool cat for doing that.

By following the link above you can read more about Cosmo from longtime fan Martin Greim.

This will be my last posting for 2008, so I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to 2009. Since I joined the blogging world I've met some really great people, those who have left positive comments, constructive criticism, those who have e-mailed me to ask questions or share information. When I started Pappy's 2 1/2 years ago I wasn't sure what kind of reaction I'd get, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the overwhelmingly positive and friendly feedback. Looking at the many blogs that have sprung up with fans sharing comics makes me feel very good. It's great to know that the history of comic books is well represented on the World Wide Web, and as my StatCounter software shows me, people from around the world are participating by looking in.

I'll see you in 2009, and best to you from your Pappy!

[This review comes from guest blogger Jonathan Atkins:]

Green Arrow: Year One is a re-telling of the origin of Green Arrow by writer Andy Diggle and artist Jock (real name Mark Simpson) that tries to do what Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli did for Batman to its title character. Although it might not be quite up to the standard of the sublime Batman: Year One, this is still a fresh and convincing new start for a long-running superhero that serves as an excellent way for readers unfamiliar with Oliver Queen, the man underneath the Robin Hood outfit, to get a good grasp of where he comes from and what he’s all about.

Like Mike Grell before him, Diggle seeks to ground Green Arrow in a world more like our own, but does so in a way that does not completely jettison previous interpretations of the character. Frank Miller did the same with his origin story for Batman, and it is an effective technique as it helps to humanize a superheroic protagonist and makes them more accessible for a new reader. Daringly, however, Diggle makes the decision to eschew Green Arrow’s future stomping ground, Star City, in favor of basing the entire narrative around Oliver Queen’s time spent marooned on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean. It’s a brave move and one that pays off in spades by focusing the action and allowing the title character to really take center stage – and when a protagonist undergoes a change as radical as Queen’s, it’s character development that you want to see.

From the very clever first page, which shows the green arrow of a compass spinning without a true direction at magnetic north, we see a future Green Arrow ultimately find his own direction over the course of a convincing narrative that never once strays off the introspective path set for it. Diggle doesn’t let the character stuff get in the way of telling a rollicking story, however, and fits in some twists and turns and explosive scenes to stop the plot’s pulse from getting too relaxed. Some slight social relevancy is unobtrusively worked in as well, foreshadowing the politicization of the character by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams in the seventies and providing some brains with the ballistics. A slightly silly villain, the oddly named and appropriately dressed China White, seems a little out of place amongst the cast of the collection. Although she might be essential for the sake of the story, contrasted with the real villain of the piece – a treacherous employee of Queen’s – she pales in comparison.

With a mixed medium, it’s no surprise that comics can only get so far with strong writing before the quality of the artwork becomes an important factor in the overall quality of the finished product, but fortunately the art team of Jock and David Baron shoot straight and true throughout this collection. Jock’s jagged pencils are stripped of any unnecessary clutter, lending the numerous action sequences a truly kinetic quality and perfectly conveying the speed of the obligatory storm of flying projectiles that are always accompany of a Green Arrow adventure. David Baron, the colorist, does a great job of establishing the backdrops for the story with lush but instantly distinguishable environmental tones that do not take anything away from Jock’s work.

My only other real issue with Green Arrow: Year One not previously mentioned is that some parts of the plot are stormed through with an unsatisfactory swiftness in order to reach the keynotes in the tune Diggle wants to play. In particular, it would have been nice to see a little more of Queen’s transformation from playboy to master archer; as the one issue used to cover this never really conveys the desperation of his plight or the time that passes, although this was probably because Diggle didn’t want to lose his readership in the story’s original, serialized form. That sort of efficiency sums up Green Arrow: Year One really: as a story it’s utterly fat-free and does everything it needs to do without any unnecessary grandstanding or complication. And, although a reader might sometimes crave a little fat to pad a good story out, too much is ultimately a bad thing (especially for a monthly title) and this is competitive collection for the reintroduction and revitalization of a typically B-list character.

[Contains full covers. If you'd like to write a review for Collected Editions, send an email to the address on the sidebar.]

More reviews on the way! Everyone have a safe holiday and a happy new year!

Number 444


Rocky and Simpy pull big boners


According to the Grand Comics Database this is the second of the Rocky X of the Rocketeers stories featured in Lev Gleason's Boy Comics. This particular episode is from Boy #81. In this story the characters do, as Simpy admits on page 8, ". . .pull boners--big ones." Training did not seem to be a big part of Rocketeer school...more like flying by the seat of your pants. It's fun reading about space travel from the imaginations of a comic book writer and artist, as opposed to what it became in real life just a few years after this story was published in 1953. We all know with the real-life astronauts training was paramount. No letting a couple of guys take off in an untested rocket ship and hope for the best.

I have the second part of this continuing story, and I'll probably show it next week. Artist Norman Maurer, who married Stooge Moe Howard's daughter and later became the Three Stooges' producer, himself produces a story that with the ineptness of the characters might have fit right into a Stooges' short. A little eye-poking or hair-pulling might have added considerably to the fun.

Number 443


Blackhawk solves the mystery of the flying saucers


The Blackhawks take on a mystery much in the news in the late 1940s and early 1950s. What are the flying saucers and where do they come from? Blackhawk says they come from our own planet; no little gray guys, but giant white guys.


The story is from Blackhawk #71, December 1953, and is drawn by the team of Dick Dillin and Chuck Cuidera.

Following our run-down the other day of details on about Final Crisis Companion and Batman: Black Casebook, here's notes on some more DC Comics collections coming in 2009 ...

BATMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE CAPED CRUSADER? DELUXE EDITION HC Writer: Neil Gaiman Artists: Andy Kubert, Jesse Delperdang, Mark Buckingham, Bernie Mireault, Matt Wagner and Simon Bisley Collects: BATMAN #685 and DETECTIVE COMICS #852 and stories from SECRET ORIGINS #36, SECRET ORIGINS SPECIAL #1 and BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE #2 $24.99 US, 128 pages

- Neil Gaiman is the only writer listed for this hardcover (note, by the way, deluxe edition) -- Secret Origins #36 is a Poison Ivy origin tale by Gaiman; Secret Origins Special is a Riddler and Penguin (and Two-Face?) origin by Gaiman; the final is a Batman: Black and White story by Gaiman.

BIRDS OF PREY: PLATINUM FLATS TP Writer: Tony Bedard Artists: Nicola Scott, Michael O'Hare, Doug Hazlewood and John Floyd Collects: BIRDS OF PREY #119-124 $17.99 US, 144 pages

- Note Birds of Prey: Metropolis or Bust collected the Sean McKeever stories; Club Kids and Platinum Flats collects the Tony Bedard stories. Birds of Prey ends with issue #127; the final issues may very well appear in a Batman RIP Companion-type trade.

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD VOL. 4: WITHOUT SIN TP Writers: Marv Wolfman and David Hine Artist: Phil Winslade and Doug Braithwaite Collects: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #17-22 $17.99 US, 144 pages

- As noted before, this series has now gone to first-run paperback, not hardcover.

DC COMICS CLASSICS LIBRARY: THE FLASH OF TWO WORLDS HC Writers: Gardner Fox and John Broome Artists: Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella and Sid Greene Collects: THE FLASH #123, 129, 137, 151 and 173 $39.99 US, 144 pages

- Collects #123, the first Flash of Two Worlds story; #129, another Golden/Silver Age Flash team-up; #137, with a Justice Society cameo; #151, with Jay Garrick and the Shade; and #173, with Kid Flash Wally West.

FINAL CRISIS: ROGUES' REVENGE HC Writer: Geoff Johns Artist: Scott Kolins, Doug Hazelwood and Dan Panosian Collects: FINAL CRISIS: ROGUES' REVENGE #1-3 and THE FLASH #182 and 197 $19.99 US, 144 pages

- Along with the Final Crisis tie-in miniseries, Flash #182 is a Geoff Johns Captain Cold profile, and #197 is the origin of the newest Zoom.

GREEN LANTERN: RAGE OF THE RED LANTERNS HC Writer: Geoff Johns Artists: Shane Davis, Doug Mahnke, Mike McKone, Sandra Hope, Chrisian Alamy and Andy Lanning Collects: GREEN LANTERN #26-28, 36-38 and FINAL CRISIS: RAGE OF THE RED LANTERNS #1 $24.99 US, 176 pages

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 2 TP Writers: Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and John Ostrander Artists: Kevin Maguire, Bill Willingham, Luke McDonnell, Al Gordon, Bob Lewis and others Collects: JUSTICE LEAGUE ANNUAL #1, JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #8-13 and SUICIDE SQUAD #13 $17.99 US, 208 pages

SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? DELUXE EDITION HC Writer: Alan Moore Artists: Curt Swan, George Pérez, Kurt Schaffenberger, Dave Gibbons, Rick Veitch and Al Williamson Collects: SUPERMAN #423, ACTION COMICS #583, SUPERMAN ANNUAL #11 and DC COMICS PRESENTS #85 $19.99 US, 128 pages

- In addition to the two-part Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, this deluxe-size edition also includes the famous Alan Moore annual "For the Man Who has Everything," and an equally well-known Superman/Swamp Thing team-up.

TERROR TITANS TP Writer: Sean McKeever Artists: Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson Collects: TERROR TITANS #1-6 $17.99 US, 144 pages

BATMAN: HUSH TP Writer: Jeph Loeb Artists: Jim Lee and Scott Williams Collects: BATMAN #608-619 $24.99 US, 320 pages

BOOSTER GOLD: REALITY LOST TP Writers: Chuck Dixon and Dan Jurgens Artists: Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund Collects: BOOSTER GOLD #11-12 and 15-18 $14.99 US, 144 pages

- Skips the two-part Rick Remender story from issues #13-14.

DC COMICS CLASSICS LIBRARY: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA BY GEORGE PEREZ VOL. 1 HC Writer: Gerry Conway Artists: George Pérez, Frank McLaughlin and John Beatty Collects: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #184-186 and 192-194 $39.99 US, 176 pages

- As issue #184 starts in the middle of a Jim Starlin storyline, I've a suspicion this collection actually starts with Justice League of America #186.

FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS HC Writer: Geoff Johns Artists: George Pérez and Scott Koblish Collects: FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1-5 $19.99 US, 168 pages

FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS HC Writer: Greg Rucka Artists: Philip Tan, Jeff De Los Santos and Jonathan Glapion Collects: FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS #1-5 $19.99 US, 168 pages

REIGN IN HELL TP Writer: Keith Giffen Artists: Tom Derenick, Bill Sienkiewicz, Justiniano and Chad Hardin Collects: REIGN IN HELL #1-8 $19.99 US, 256 pages

- So glad to see this collected all in one volume. And for only $2.50 an issue ($1.50, if you can find a discount).

TEEN TITANS: CHANGING OF THE GUARD TP Writer: Sean McKeever Artist: Eddy Barrows and Ruy Jose Collects: TEEN TITANS #62-69 $14.99 US, 192 pages

TRINITY VOL. 2 TP Writers: Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza Artists: Mark Bagley, Scott McDaniel, Mike Norton, Tom Derenick, Art Thibert, Andy Owens, Jerry Ordway and Wayne Faucher Collects: TRINITY #18-34 $29.99 US, 400 pages

- Lending credence, again, to the idea this this will only be three volumes.

Number 442


Boxing Day noir


Americans don't know what Boxing Day is, a holiday celebrated in the rest of the English-language speaking world. For my fellow Americans, here's an explanation of Boxing Day.

I don't have a posting that relates to the Boxing Day holiday so I came up with a boxing strip. This is from Silver Scream #2, from 1991, a black and white reprint from Harvey Comics' 1954 Black Cat Mystery #51. The drawing is by Mort Meskin. Because of the moodiness of horror comics, I think some would have been improved had they been printed originally in black and white. Oftentimes the coloring detracted, rather than added, to the mood. "Punch and Rudy," sans comic book colors, is a noirish story, stark and dark, with a punch ending (literally).

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While on the subject of noir, recently I watched the film, Blast Of Silence, part of the Criterion Collection on DVD. The movie was made as an indy film in 1960, released in '61. It was written , directed, and starred Allen Baron. The reason I mention it in Pappy's is that Allen Baron was a comic book artist sometime in the Golden Age. In the German-produced documentary that accompanies the movie, there are some quick and tantalizing shots of comic book original art. I did some screen captures. I didn't find Allen Baron in the Grand Comics Database, but maybe somebody out there will recognize these stories.